Change
by MadnessMask
Summary: Kiyo just arrived to Rikkai. He's the typical lone wolf that hates crowds, doesn't have any friends and doesn't like to talk. A guy who wants to achieve his goal without making any relationships with anybody. And then he meets Akaya Kirihara.
1. Introduction

Chapter I: Introduction.

He knew from the very first day that it wouldn't be the same as his elementary school. He would have to start from zero. He knew he had to stand those weird looks all the time, the same curious faces that wondered why he didn't talk. But he didn't care about it.

"Class-" the teacher almost managed to get all the student's attention"-please, be quiet"

He had this odd feeling that kept telling him that he would achieve his major dream.

"Oh, well, whatever" he sighed, and pointed the red haired boy with one hand "For those who are listening, this is the new student"

He blinked. That was the first time he had entered in a classroom with such noisy students.

The old man gave him the best smile he could have "Why don't you introduce yourself?"

The boy nodded, and stared at the whole classroom

"Ohayou" he made a bow "My name is Mitsumoto Kiyo. I'm fourteen years old, and I came from Tokyo. Nice to meet you"

A few replied a simple 'nice to meet you', but the most of the class just continued chatting, like nobody knew he was there. Huh, it seems that it would be better than he thought. Kiyo didn't want to make tons of friends, nor fangirls or enemies. He just wanted to be the same Kiyo that came from Tokyo's junior high school; the lone wolf that didn't like to talk to anyone.

Kiyo never liked that nickname. He hated nicknames. The people invented labels just for hiding their own defects, to feel better to know there was someone worse than themselves. Just like the insults. They worked the same. But he learnt to live alongside them, ignoring those stupid inventions.

He was conscious that Rikkai wasn't just an ordinary school. It wouldn't be easy to grasp that dream of his. After all, Rikkai's tennis club was the strongest one in all Japan. It would be a challenge to become a member of the tennis team, and he knew he would have a rough time trying to beat that obstacle.

But, you know something? Kiyo wasn't the type of guy that is scared of tough challenges. In fact, he loved challenges. The feeling of increasing nerves, that fierce look in the opponent's eyes, that tension that grew bigger as you hit the tennis ball…all those sensations were just amazing.

Something kept saying Kiyo the rest of the day that he would have a great time in there. Even with all the suffering, the tears, and the disappointments, that year would be the best of all the times.

Kiyo went automatically to the tennis courts. He didn't bother to follow the annoying student that was supposed to show him the entire school. He didn't have the time to listen to all his 'Look, I know the entire school and you don't. I'm smarter than you because of that'. All of them had the same attitude of superiority that bothered him a lot.

When the random guy got distracted by another classmate, the red haired boy ran away and went to the closest stairs, turning on his black Ipod, playing his favorite song at the max volume.

Some people said that he was crazy. They couldn't understand why did he listened music at such high volume, most of them said that he would turn deaf when he reached his twenties. Kiyo just replied to all of them. 'Whatever. I don't care.' He said that the little details of the song were clearer when you heard them at the loudest mode. Also, when you didn't want to hear all those stupid things that they had to say to you, you just needed to turn on your Ipod, put your earphones and play any song. All those word will disappear in an instant.

And that's the thing he was doing at that moment. Music helped him to relax, and also isolated him from the noisy world.

There was, like, more than thirty students in all the courts. The main part was just watching the team playing, instead of picking the balls or at least practicing their swings. Well, he couldn't blame them. Rikkai's tennis team was just amazing. He could actually feel their energy from the seats which were pretty far away from the courts. All of them were so focused on their matches, trying to know how to beat their opponent.

The most incredible ones were a blue-haired boy with a green strip and a tall guy with a black cap. They seemed to be in third year, he deduced. Their play styles were very original. He couldn't even imagine how they could have such an amazing power.

He just continued watching their match, amazed.

A boy with seaweed-like black hair stood beside Kiyo "Oh! You're the new student from Tokyo, right?" he grinned "I'm Kirihara Akaya, in the same class."

Akaya continued talking about things that Kiyo didn't hear, because he was too concentrated on listening music and watching the tennis match. After a while, the red haired boy finally noticed him. He took out one of his earphones and stared at the other guy, who was still talking.

"…and that's how you can enter the tennis club" he finally finished, putting both hands in his pocket "So? Do you want to join~?"

He just raised his eyebrows.

"Sorry. Didn't hear a thing." Kiyo said nonchalantly "Hope you don't mind"

Akaya blinked a few times before processing the situation.

"So, you just ignored me"

"Eh, I wouldn't call it like that. I was listening music, so I didn't hear what you were saying."

"You actually ignored me" Kirihara repeated, half offended, half angry."That is anything but polite, you know! You should learn some manners!"

Kiyo stood up sighing. If he continued there, that guy would keep bothering him with that manners and you should be more polite thingy.

He walked away, with a pretty amused Kirihara behind

"He-Hey!" the black haired boy reached him "Aren't you going to reply or something?"

"Why should I do it?" He answered with another question.

"Well, that's what most of the people do…"

"I'm not 'the rest of the people'" Kiyo looked at him "Besides, I hate unnecessary fights with people"

There was a moment of silence

"Yeah…oh, whatever" Akaya gave up. "I'm Kirihara Akaya, in the same class as you." He grinned "Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you" he repeated, sighing "I'm Mitsumoto Kiyo"

The blue eyed boy didn't know how, but he started talking with Kirihara, like they were close friends.

"You know something? You look a lot like Marui-senpai!"

"Who?"

"Oh, I thought you already met him. Well, whatever. Do you like tennis?"

"Yup."

"Why don't you enter the tennis club, then? It is great!"

"Kirihara" Kiyo started, raising an eyebrow "I don't know if you noticed it already, but this is my first day in school."

"Details, details" he laughed, a little bit embarrassed "You already visited the whole school?"

"No. And I don't want to. At least for today"

"Well, you have plenty of time to do that."

Silence. Akaya ran out of conversation topics, and Kiyo wasn't very chatty. He just stared at the sky, while Kirihara was having a hard time to think how he could talk with his new friend without having those awkward silences.

"Eh, do you want to go to the tennis courts?" he suggested "I can introduce you to the team."

"Sure"

Both stood up and went to the tennis courts once more. Meanwhile, they kept talking (Well, it was more like Akaya talked and the other replied short things like "Yes" or "Nope").

"Do you want to be in other clubs?"

"I don't know" Kiyo said "Do they have a music club?"

"Uh-huh" the seaweed boy nodded enthusiastically "Do you play any instruments?"

"Electric bass" he scratched his neck a few times "And kendo?"

"We have a kendo club too" A grin appeared in his face "Sanada-fukubuchou likes kendo"

"Sanada?"

"You'll meet him when we get there"

"All right"

Aaaand that's it, people, the first chapter of my new not-romantic-nor-fangirlish (XD) fanfic, with my OC Kiyo Mitsumoto 3 It may be short, but I have another fanfic that is 12 word pages long (each chapter) in a forum, and I need to keep alive my inspiration to do both of them x________x *suffers severe art blocks all time if she starts making a lot of fanfics*.

Don't kill me if you see any mistakes, PLEASE. I'm not from USA, England or any other country that speaks English. I'm from Latin America, and I still don't know how to speak and write properly and this is my first fanfic in English. Don't be that hard with me, please D:U.


	2. A not so great surprise called Marui

Chapter II: A not-so-great surprise called Marui Bunta.

There was a rare phrase that said that there were, at least, three persons in the entire world that looked just like you.

Kiyo always thought that he had no chances of meeting those three people, because they probably didn't speak the same language nor lived in the same country. But, as he saw Akaya gathering all the team, he realized that he was wrong. Very, very, wrong.

The first reaction of all the guys was an astonishment face. Then, they turned at the same time their faces to stare at one of their teammates, and turned again to Kiyo's direction.

One of them laughed. He had gray hair and aquamarine eyes "Look, Marui, we found your twin!"

Kiyo couldn't see Marui, but he heard his voice. He was clearly angry "Shut up, you stupid Niou. He doesn't look-"

And then, Marui appeared. Both red-haired boys opened their mouths in shock. They were _almost_ the same person, with only two differences: the height and the eye color. But the rest, they were like twins, just like Niou said.

"What the-" both said simultaneously. They couldn't finish the sentence.

"Great" Niou said with a smirk "They also talk at the same time"

Kirihara also laughed, and then the entire team did the same thing. And then, Marui and Kiyo glared at them. They were the only ones who didn't found that funny.

"Kiyo," Akaya passed and arm over Marui's shoulders "This is Marui-senpai"

Marui waved, a little bit embarrassed. Kiyo raised his chin, like he was saying 'hi'.

"And now" Kirihara pointed the blue eyed boy "Everyone, this is Mitsumoto Kiyo, the new student in my class. He's joining the tennis club" He commented, grinning like an idiot.

"Oh, it's that so?" The blue-haired boy from earlier seemed interested."It is great" He turned to the rest of my team "Ne, guys, aren't my practices fun ~?"

Everyone gulped. They looked like they had to agree, or something bad would happen. Kiyo even felt the 'say-yes-or-I-kill-you' aura from the guy.

"Ha-hai!" They replied in unison, slightly scared.

_Are the practices THAT bad?_ The red haired boy said to himself, pretty amused.

"I'm the buchou" said the purple eyed one "Yukimura Seiichi, and him" he put his hands on the guy with the cap "Is the fukubuchou, Sanada Genichiro"

Sanada grunted, and moved his head a little. He looked as if he didn't like to talk; the cold-and-severe guy.

Akaya finished introducing the rest of the team, which was kind of interesting. They all looked so strong…

But, before all of them could do anything, the bell rang, announcing the end of the break. Kiyo thought the recess would be a little longer.

The English class started, and he was bored like hell. Kiyo hated English, even more than Math. Since little, no matter what he tried to do, he couldn't understand a thing the teacher said. His parents tried everything to try to teach Kiyo. They even sent him to England for the entire vacations, and he came back, just knowing how to greet, count until 10, say 'thank you' and 'goodbye'. He even escaped most of the classes, and walked around the country. Most of the times he got really lost, but he always found a way to get back to the school.

His older brother always teased him with that. Utsuho, his brother's name, always said weird phrases in English (Kiyo didn't know that most of them were just insults) that the younger Mitsumoto didn't understand. And also, his parents annoyed him with that crap of 'Why can't you be like your older brother and try to learn English?' and 'It's easy. You just have to be a little more insistent'. But they knew, in the inside, that English wasn't easy for any of them.

Kiyo sighed, and looked through the window. He could see part of the entire field of Rikkai. It had beautiful gardens, various buildings and numerous tennis courts. Past the school, and you could see the beautiful blue sea. The blue eyed boy wanted to jump out of the boring classroom and fly to the beach…

.

He didn't know when he fell asleep, and, sincerely, he didn't care. Sleeping was better than staring at the teacher, pretending to understand what the teacher was saying. He just knew that in one moment everything was pleasantly quiet and dark, far away from the teacher's monotone voice. Ah, he just loved to sleep.

The little nap helped him to feel like the two hours of English were just two minutes. He was thankful that he picked one of the last seats in the class. That way, the teacher wouldn't notice him. Or at least that's what he thought.

"Hey" he said, standing next to Kiyo. The teacher was pretty upset "Hey, kiddo. Wake up. This isn't naptime."

Everyone laughed, and the red haired boy finally woke up, growling as high as he could. He was also glaring at the teacher.

"Mitsumoto, is it?" the man raised an eyebrow, and Kiyo nodded "I'm Yagami Shuuchi, and I think you should pay more attention to the class"

"Yeah, whatever" he sighed, looking to the window. He didn't like that teacher already.

Shuuchi walked again to the front of the classroom, and looked Kiyo one more time.

"And, Mitsumoto-" he called. The red haired boy raised his head. "I hope I don't see those piercings in the next class. It's against the rules, if you didn't know"

Kiyo seemed surprised for a moment, and automatically raised his hand to his left eyebrow. How the hell did that stupid teacher see his piercings? They were on the opposite side of the line of sight of Shuuchi! He sure had X-rays or something like that. They were almost impossible to see.

He grunted loudly, glared at the teacher for one more time and answered in a very bad mood "Hai, sensei"

He ended up eating with Akaya in the roof. He was still angry. But, he calmed himself down as he started eating.

"Don't worry about Yagami-sensei" Akaya commented, engulfing his taikoyaki "He'll forget about that."

"Yeah, right" was the only answer from Kiyo.

"Uh…it is true" The black haired boy blinked a couple of times "He saw me once playing with my PSP, and he said that he would send me to detention room after classes, but he forgot about it when the class ended"

"Really?" Kirihara nodded, chuckling. Kiyo smirked "He must have the worst memory in the entire school"

"Kind of. But still, you need to be more careful. He has a very good sight"

They continued chatting about the teachers, and how annoying was English class as they walked to the courts once more. Kirihara insisted so much that Kiyo just had to agree or the boy would keep saying 'Come on!' until he would drive Kiyo mad.

The team kept staring at Marui and Kiyo, still amused.

"Quit it already" said both of them at the same time, again "It isn't-"

Then, they realized they were talking in unison. And the rest of the boys laughed loudly. Both of the red haired glared at the team, and then to each other. It was obvious that they wouldn't get on very well with the other.

Akaya noticed that, and he tried to retain his laughter.

"Stop repeating the same things I say!" yelled Marui.

"Wow, so I'm the one who is repeating." Kiyo replied, sarcastically "You stop mimicking me!"

"I'm not mimicking you!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I don't!"

And they continued arguing, without even noticing that some of the other guys were taking photos and videos of them. They couldn't help it; that situation was very funny. They looked like two little children trying to blame the other because one of them broke the neighbor's window.

"Oi, Marui quit-"

Niou stopped. He actually got confused. He didn't know which of them the tensai was.

"Eh, Yagyu" he called his doubles partner, pointing at the pair "Who is Marui? The one in the left?"

"No, Niou-kun. If you didn't notice, Kiyo is a little bit taller than Marui-kun"

"Oh. So it's the one at the right?" he asked again, still puzzled.

The tensai managed to hear the conversation, and got very pissed. How the hell his teammate could confuse _him_ with some random second-year boy?

"Niou-baka!" he shouted "How can you confuse me? I'm totally different from-"

But he couldn't finish the sentence. His team interrupted him with another of their laughs.

"My god, Marui-senpai" Akaya gave the older boy one of his friendly punches ", you're _almost_ the same person"

And that phrase was the bomb. Now Kiyo was pissed.

"You're wrong, Kirihara" interrupted him "Can't you see the differences?"

He stood besides his senpai.

"I have blue eyes, and he has purple eyes" said, making the height difference more clear "His hair is pinker than mine. Also, I'm taller than Marui-senpai."

The last difference annoyed Marui. He hated when people reminded him that he was short. Meanwhile, Niou took advantage of that and started teasing Marui.

"That's right!" he said, chucking "Pinkie is the short one puri ~"

The older one glared the trickster.

"Yeah, but still…" Akaya kept analyzing the pair "They look the same to me"

Kiyo sighed as heavily as he could. He knew that it wouldn't end soon. That stupid moment would last months, maybe the whole year.

It is great to do short chapters ~. They don't drain all of your inspiration, not like my other fanfic's chapters D: They sure leave you exhausted. This chapter is a little bit long: four-and-a-half pages! Hope it doesn't get too large in the future ^^;

Oh, by the way, if you wonder how Kiyo is like, here's a link with his appearance, general information and personality in the description: .com/#/d2pa93w


	3. Cherries, fangirls and tennis balls

**Chapter III: Cherries, fangirls and tennis balls**

-Skip time: 2 months and a half-

He returned the ball with a simple slice, and the first-year boy failed to hit it. Kiyo won the match automatically.

"Game, set and match won by Mitsumoto-" said another guy who was umpiring the match"-six games to love"

He sighed. Since his first day in the tennis club he did nothing but have boring matches against the easy boys. And most of them didn't know how to return the ball properly.

Don't think he stayed quiet. He was constantly complaining about that in front of Yukimura, but the blue-haired boy just smiled as he always did, and said "Be patient, Mitsumoto. Once you enter the tennis team, you'll have the best matches". However, Kiyo knew he wouldn't have chances to enter the tennis team till the next year.

Yes, he missed the tournament for selecting the regulars. He was too busy practicing with the band of the music club, training in the kendo club and studying for all the Biology, Math and History tests. And Kirihara didn't bother to mention it. Or at least Kiyo didn't listened him.

But, he was pretty lucky. He could sneak in the team's practice without any problems. That was the only time when he didn't get pissed when they thought he was Marui. However, something that Kiyo didn't know was the fact that Yukimura wasn't foolish; he had great eyes, and he always watched Mitsumoto join the regulars practice without asking him, but Seiichi didn't say a thing.

"Kiyo, you should be doing the swing exercises-" Akaya said, running alongside the red haired "-instead of sneaking in the regulars practice."

"I already know how to swing my racket" Kiyo replied, calmly "Besides; those types of practices are for beginners."

Akaya smirked "So, you're saying you can a_ctually_ reach our level?"

The other nodded, looking at his friend in the eye "What? You think I can't?"

"Of course not!" He laughed "You can't do it. It's too hard for you."

"Don't judge people if you don't know them."

"I'm not judging you."

"Kirihara" Kiyo was retaining himself from smacking the younger one "You just said that I can't reach your level. That's judging."

"Uh…" And he blinked, as he processed the information "…really? I thought I was just saying a simple sentence. Didn't know I was judging you"

Mitsumoto sighed, as heavily as he could "Now you know it, Kirihara"

Somebody chuckled behind their backs. It was Niou. Obviously, he was entertained by the second-year pair.

"Is he always like that?" The red haired asked to his senpai.

"All the time" The trickster replied, chuckling again "How can you actually stand him, puri ~?"

"I don't know…"

Kirihara pouted.

"Hey! Stop talking like I wasn't here!" He looked to his friend "And, Kiyo, you're the one saying that I shouldn't judge people, but you're the one doing that!"

"I am not" Kiyo explained, glaring at the seaweed boy "I just asked Niou-senpai if you're always like this"

Niou laughed quietly, and Akaya smacked him. He wasn't an idiot! -he thought-…, or, at least, not THAT idiotic for don't knowing that Kiyo was lying. He hated that everyone labeled him as the slow and kind-of-stupid boy in the team. He said it a couple of times in front of his teammates, but someone always interrupted him with the phrase 'Then stop being like that, baka'. And he stayed quiet, because he didn't know how he could do that.

The practices ended soon, and everyone went to the dressing rooms. Well, at least the club members. The regulars could only do a few steps before a huge crowd of fangirls made a circle and kept them imprisoned. Two seconds of silence passed before the squeaks and screams started.

"Kya~! Yukimura-sama, you're so cool playing tennis!"

"Niou-senpai, how can you be so mysterious? I love it!"

"Renji-senpai! Can you give me your phone number? I need someone who can help me in Science…"

As expected, the girls confused Kiyo with his identical senpai. Some of them even hugged him.

"Waa! Marui-sama, you've grown up a lot!"

"You look so handsome!"

"We love you!"

"Wha…?" and he didn't know what to do. That was the first time where the girls acted like that with him. But he reacted, making a very annoyed face. "I-I'm not Marui, damn it!" he shouted, trying to get rid of the girls.

"You can't lie" one replied, patting his shoulder "There's only one boy that has red hair and is in the tennis club!"

"I'm not even a regular!" Kiyo shouted, freeing his arms from the climbing fangirls. "You're confusing me. I'm Mitsumoto Kiyo, not Marui Bunta"

He turned and put the (now surprised by the action) tensai besides him. The fangirls blinked and stayed there quietly, gazing at the two boys, trying to understand why the hell the two of them were almost the other person.

One of them smiled.

"Marui-sama has an older brother!"

Some of Marui's teammates managed to hear that, and exploded in laughter. Akaya was one of them; even the "number one" fans of the volley specialist couldn't see the tiny differences.

"Girls," Kirihara passed his arms over the red-headed boys' shoulders."Marui-senpai has only two brothers. And this is Kiyo. He studies with me"

"Nani? But he looks older…!" One of the girls pointed at Kiyo, surprised.

If Mitsumoto had more energy, he would shout at them the differences, and why they shouldn't confuse him with his senpai, but he was too tired. He just stepped out of the circle and went to the dressing room. He couldn't stand any more stupid fangirl squeaks.

While he was walking, he could hear the complaints of the older one. He was truly offended; they were his fangirls, and they had the capacity for distinguishing Kiyo from Marui. But they didn't. It was maybe because they were too excited, as usual.

"Kiyo! Wait!" Akaya yelled, struggling to reach his friend.

"What, Kirihara?" the blue-eyed glared, irritated "Did you come for mocking me more?"

"Whoa, calm down" the seaweed boy raised his arms as if he was defending himself "I just wanted to walk with you, baka"

The only answer from the older one was a groan. He was obviously not in his best mood. Oh, what the hell. Kiyo wasn't _never_ in his best mood. His friend was always with that _you-talk-to-me-and-you'll-die _attitude that reminded him of Sanada-senpai. But he knew Kiyo had all the reasons for doing it. He was constantly confused with Marui-senpai, even after two month saying the same phrase; "_I'm NOT Marui!_"

But still…it was plain frustrating that Kiyo just said a couple of words when Akaya was chatting with him.

"I know!" The black haired said a couple of minutes later "Wanna go to the ice-cream parlor? Ice cream always cheers me up!"

His friend looked at him curiously for a few seconds, but agreed with no hesitation. Maybe Akaya was right. Or maybe he was hungry.

"I'll eat the banana split!" Kirihara said to the waitress, grinning.

Kiyo stared at the other, pretty amused. How the hell did he eat so much? Banana splits were the biggest ice creams, at least for him. But well, everyone has different likes. And stomach sizes.

"Uh…" Kiyo looked at the desserts menu, pretty undecided. It had at least twenty different ice cream flavors "I think…I'll eat the lemon one"

The waitress said a faint "yes", and went into the restaurant.

Both of the boys stayed quietly. They didn't know what to say. Well, Akaya didn't want to talk with Kiyo's bad mood. He would probably glare at him and continue eating quietly. The second-year Ace waited in silence until the woman brought the ice cream. He stared at his friend's face, waiting for him to change his face. And that was exactly the thing that Kiyo did. He ate the first spoonful of ice cream, and he widened his eyes, looking at the dessert as surprised as he could.

"Wow! This _is _good!" He said, devouring his ice cream "You were right, Kirihara. This is the best ice cream I ever had!"

"I told you, Kiyo" the other replied, chuckling. He managed to change Kiyo's mood with a simple ice cream! "Ice cream always cheers everyone up!"

Mitsumoto tried to say 'yes', but with all that ice cream in his mouth, the only sound that came out of his lips was like 'uh (munch) (gulp) huh! (munch)". Akaya started eating his banana split too, trying to laugh quietly. He knew Kiyo would get mad again if he did it.

Three minutes later, both of them finished their ice creams. The seaweed boy cleaned his mouth with a napkin.

"You know something?"

"What" The red headed did the same thing.

"Life is just a bowl of cherries, Kiyo"

Kiyo looked at his friend. He clearly didn't understand what the meaning of that phrase was.

"And what the hell does that suppose to mean?" he asked, puzzled.

"It means life is simple" Akaya explained ", and you have to take it easy, instead of being mad at all the people in it"

"You think so?" Kiyo was going to glare at the other, but something stopped him of dong it.

"Yeah. You should try to do that. You'll see that if you can try being more tolerant with people and less aggressive, everyone will treat you with respect"

Mitsumoto gazed at the park silently for a few seconds. Akaya wished to have the power of reading minds. That way he could know what Kiyo was thinking at those moments.

"Will you do it, Kiyo?"

"I'll try it"

Sorry! School keeps me so busy… I hope everyone liked this chapter ;_;U It's hard to make a chapter with low inspiration…


	4. Chance

**Chapter IV: Chance**

His brother always believed in tarot, luck, reincarnation and those weird things that science qualified as unreal. Kiyo didn't know if they were real or not, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to believe in them.

That night Utsuho was way too bored, and when he's bored, if you're next to him, be sure you'll have your fortune read, even if you don't want.

It didn't matter how many times Kiyo refused or how hard he smacked his brother. When Utsuho is determined to do something, he won't stop bugging the person until he or she says 'yes'. But that time he just ignored his little brother and dragged him to the table, which already had all the cards placed on it. If the older Mitsumoto didn't say a certain phrase, Kiyo would probably stand up and leave him talking. That phrase was 'The chance you were waiting for has just arrived. But, you'll possibly leave someone hurt, _or worse_'. Utsuho said the last two words as creepily as he could, just to scare his brother.

After that, Kiyo went to his bedroom, thinking in those words.

He still had that phrase in his head. He couldn't understand the whole meaning. Why would he hurt somebody entering the tennis team? He wasn't an aggressive person; he thought those types of fights were pretty useless. They would just leave injured persons. But, what if it wasn't about fighting? What if it was emotionally? He also disliked that type of attacks. In the end, they were much worse that physical damage. But that didn't answer his question. How could he hurt someone's feelings by playing a single match?

That was too deep and strange for him.

"Kiyo!" Akaya shouted from behind. Kiyo supposed he would be running, trying to reach him "Good morning~!"

"Kirihara-" The red head sighed, slightly upset "-why do you have to yell so early?"

"Hehe, I'm sorry ~" He replied, grinning. "Guess I won't do it again."

They kept talking. And when I say talking, both of them did. Kiyo only said complete sentences when he talked with Akaya, because he was the only person who actually could get along with him without freaking out, because of Mitsumoto's short answers. Or maybe it was because Kiyo trusted him.

And Kirihara knew he was opening bit by bit.

"Why the hell you s_till_ _don't know_ the whole school!" The seaweed boy asked, emphasizing the 'still don't know' part "You've been here for three months!"

"I don't have time for these things" The other replied, putting one earphone on his ear "And maybe you don't realize it, but Rikkai's pretty big."

"It isn't that big. It must be that your other secondary school was just too small."

"Whatever."

Kirihara glared Kiyo. It was pretty annoying to be forced to show the entire field of Rikkai three days in a row. And it was more annoying when Kiyo had that lacking-of-interest attitude. If Kiyo was bored, why would he have to oblige Akaya to do that? Mitsumoto was still too complicated.

Fortunately, someone interrupted the duo. It was Niou, and he seemed pretty tired.

"Whew! I finally found you two!" He said, smacking his kouhais "Why the hell you're here? You classroom is in the opposite way!"

"Kiyo wanted to see the school" Kirihara replied, blaming his friend.

"Why would Mitsumoto do that?" The trickster asked "He has been here for three months"

"That's the same thing I was saying to him! And-"

"Quit it" Kiyo interrupted, upset "If you don't wanted to do it, then you just had to say 'no', Kirihara."

"But-but…I said no like a hundred times!" Akaya cried "But you-"

"Anyways," The silver haired stopped the second-year Ace "Mitsumoto, Yukimura-buchou is calling you."

"Huh? Me? Why?"

Niou shrugged.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" He answered "He just told me 'Look for Mitsumoto. He is always with Akaya'"

"Uh, okay" Kiyo looked his senpai "Where's Yukimura-senpai?"

"He's probably in the Gardening Club. Follow me"

Mitsumoto looked at Akaya, surprised. The Devil made a good luck gesture as the other two left.

Kiyo looked at all the plants amazed. They had the most beautiful flowers he ever saw. All of the plants looked healthy and somehow shiny. They gave life to the room.

Yukimura was the only boy in the club. And he didn't seem uncomfortable with that. Instead, he looked happy.

"Oh, Niou, Mitsumoto" He said, leaving his watering can in a table. A smile appeared in his face "It is good to see you here"

Niou got interested in the plant that Seiichi was watering. It was a white orchid.

"Whoa, you sure take care of your plants a lot, buchou" The trickster said, obviously amused with the flower "What is your secret?"

"It wouldn't be a secret if I told you, Niou" The blue eyed boy chuckled and turned to Kiyo "So, Mitsumoto, you should be wondering why I called you, right?"

The red headed nodded, starting to understand what Utsuho said.

"Well, I will be honest. I am tired of your complaints about the tennis practices and all those things" He confessed, looking as serious as he could "If another person asked me to do this, I would probably say no"

Niou got the meaning of Yukimura's idea, and widened his eyes. Mitsumoto blinked, still puzzled.

"What I am saying is" The captain continued after a short pause "I've been watching you, Mitsumoto; your play style is good. And, just for that, I will give you a chance. You will play with one member of the team, and if you win, you will be a part of us."

The other two boys had a '…what the hell?' expression in his face. That was pretty unexpected. And somehow cruel. Yukimura already knew it would be impossible to Kiyo to beat a member of the team. They were Rikkai, and that meant they were invincible. Niou pitied his kouhai. He would obviously make a fool of himself in front of the public.

"A-All right" The younger accepted, wondering why Yukimura was being so generous "Who are I playing against?"

"With Akaya"

Everything went upside down. And Kiyo finally understood what Utsuho said.

He didn't want to chat with Kirihara. Instead, he decided to avoid him until the last hour. That way he wouldn't feel too uncomfortable at the Ace's side.

Mitsumoto was truly worried. Hurting Akaya's feelings was the last thing he would do on Earth. And he knew better than anyone how the black head would feel if he lost to Kiyo in a match, in front of all the school, the team and the fangirls.

But, in the other side, what if _he _was the one who lost to Akaya? Everyone would laugh at him for months, including the younger one. When he wins a match, he mocks the person 'till he gets bored.

Oh, the dilemma. To win or not to win?

Akaya got shocked too when he heard it. Yukimura pronounced 'With Mitsumoto' so nonchalantly, that Kirihara thought his buchou didn't have any compassion. Then, he started worrying about his friend. The seaweed haired knew he wouldn't have any mercy with Kiyo, regardless of their friendship. He was part of Rikkai, and that meant he had to win all the matches he played. Even if it was an unofficial match.

But still…he knew Kiyo had pride. A big pride, that almost turned him into an egocentric person. It was practically the same type of pride as Akaya's. He already felt that ache that only comes when someone hurts that pride. And he was aware of the consequences as well. There was a high rate of losing him, Renji said sternly, if he won.

What would he do?

The last hours passed fast, and the tennis club activities started in no time. Almost all the school already knew about the match between Kiyo and Akaya. And, as expected, all the public cheered the second one. Most of them didn't know who the hell that Kiyo was, but they would never miss a match of one of the regulars. Also, it was more fun when they crushed random students.

Mitsumoto could hear the 'Go Akaya-sama!' from outside. There were a lot of people out there. Plus, he was sure everyone would start yelling 'Boo!' or 'You suck!' as soon as he entered the courts. That was the natural pattern. And that was one of the things he loved the most. Kiyo thought those types of words were almost hilarious. But he knew all of them were just jealous, because he had the chance to play as good as he could with a regular of the tennis team.

Kiyo walked to the third court as calmly as possible. He was so focused in his music and his thoughts, that he didn't felt Akaya walking besides him. The other knew that, and walked silently. He knew he shouldn't break the opponent's concentration, because that would only make the other less focused in the match, or something similar said Bunta-senpai once.

The trickster proclaimed himself the umpire, and sat in a chair.

"This will be a one-set match between" Niou pointed Akaya "Kirihara Akaya and Mitsumoto Kiyo"

Everyone cheered the second year ace, and once in a while insulted the red haired.

They didn't stay quiet for three entire minutes. That pissed Kiyo a lot; he couldn't get focused in the match, and he often failed to return the ball. Plus, that only made the screams get louder and louder.

Couldn't they understand this was a tennis match?

After a while, Sanada was pretty sick of the screams, and he decided to scream "Shut up already!" as loud as he could. He even scared Akaya, who didn't have the chance to hit the ball once more, and Kiyo got his first point.

The red head sighed, relieved. That way he could concentrate more on returning the ball, and finding a way to recover the three games he lost.

"Love-fifteen ~" Niou said, somehow bored of the match "Kirihara leads three games to love."

Akaya laughed.

"Whoa, Kiyo, you're pretty good in tennis!" He said sarcastically "You should be the buchou!"

Mitsumoto ignored the comment, and pointed his opponent with his black racket. Afterwards, he smirked.

"Tenisu da hare ni maketakunai, Kirihara Akaya*" (See author's note~)

The black haired stayed quiet. He felt a different atmosphere surrounding his new rival. It was more confident than before, and somehow stronger. So…Kiyo was just toying around with Kirihara? Who in Earth would waste three games in a row just to have some fun? That was stupid!

"Che. Don't get cocky just because you won one point, you dumbass" He replied, snorting.

But he knew it wasn't like that.

~o~

"Mitsumoto seems more serious" Jackal commented, surprised.

"And his shots have become more accurate" Renji started writing something on his notebook "There is a 80% probability of Kiyo winning this game"

Everyone kept silence, and Yukimura crossed his arms.

He was getting really interested in the match.

~o~

Yanagi was right. In the end, Kiyo won the game without problem, and that worried Akaya a lot. Kiyo's play style changed drastically in one second. How could that be true? It was almost impossible that one person could seem to be a beginner in tennis and when he decided he could reach Kirihara's level!

_Damn. His shots are heavier than before_ The Ace was angry, and at the same time amused _And he's much faster than before…How can this be happening? I can't lose! _

Luckily, he had an advantage. He knew if he used _that_, Kiyo would lose in no time.

Akaya lowered his head, as Mitsumoto threw the ball up and jumped. It flew to Kirihara's court, and didn't go back. Instead, it bounced a couple of times before hitting the wall.

"Fifteen-love" Niou looked at Akaya, already knowing what he would do.

The same thing happened one more time, and Kiyo shrugged. What was the other doing? He just stood there, with his head down, both hands holding the racket, without doing anything. That was strange.

But it didn't last too long. A sinister laugh came from the other side, and Kirihara raised his head, making Kiyo stop from serving. The next thing made Kiyo drop the ball.

Akaya had bloodshot eyes. And he was still laughing, louder and louder.

"So, you want a real match?" He asked, chuckling evilly "I'll give you one!"

~o~

"Mitsumoto is in big trouble" Marui popped his bubblegum "Akaya's in Bloodshot Mode"

"I wonder if he can win" Yagyu seemed worried. He knew what happened when Akaya was in bloodshot mode "-with Kirihara-kun in that state. He's capable of hurting Mitsumoto"

"Don't say that" Yukimura interrupted, still watching the game "Akaya used his bloodshot because he is starting to feel cornered. You know he could win the match without that if Mitsumoto wasn't that good"

Everyone nodded, thinking about that. Maybe their buchou was right. Akaya could seem confident and powerful on the outside, but they knew in the inside he was being cornered and somehow intimidated by Kiyo. All the regulars knew the devil only used the Bloodshot Mode when he noticed the strength of the rival. In other words, it was kind of his last resource to win without problems, if he excluded all his special shots.

The cheers got loud. The Ace managed to get a triple break point, thanks to the Bloodshot Mode. And Kiyo still seemed impassive. Clearly he didn't know what the Bloodshot meant. Oh well, he deserved it. He shouldn't mess with Akaya when playing tennis. He had to let Akaya win without problems. Without scoring a single game. Without those stupid phrases and those stupid looks of superiority.

It didn't matter if Kiyo was his friend or a random person. That was tennis. He knew he had to be as strong and fast as he could when he was playing tennis, without showing any mercy. That's what Sanada-fukubuchou taught him; Kirihara should never let his feelings interfere with a match. If that happened, he was sure he could lost that match, and receive the usual punishment for that. He shrugged after remembering the feeling of being hit by Sanada after losing a match. It was awful.

The Bloodshot devil gazed at the ball in his hand for a few seconds. He knew what he had to do in that instant. He was going to use one of his scariest techniques.

~o~

"Wait…" Jackal opened his eyes in big surprise "Akaya will be using _that?_"

"It seems so" Yagyu sighed, worried "I didn't know Kirihara-kun was really intimidated"

Yukimura chuckled, like if nothing important was about to happen. So, he didn't give a damn if Kiyo was hurt at the end of the match or not. Jackal restrained himself of scolding Yukimura for being _that_ sadistic. But he was pretty lucky. He was the buchou, so Jackal couldn't say a thing.

"Saa…you're saying Mitsumoto can't handle that?" Yukimura smiled "Oh, you are so funny. He is capable of that, and more. That boy hasn't showed his true potential."

~o~

Akaya began squeezing the ball as hard as he could, and threw it to the air. The green sphere started spinning violently, almost unnaturally. When it headed down, the black haired hit it with all his strength. Everyone started shouting two words.

"_Knuckle Serve! Knuckle Serve! Knuckle Serve!_"

The ball kept spinning wildly, even after it bounced for the first time. Kiyo didn't know what was going to happen next.


End file.
